By Alexander Zverev, the No. 6-ranked tennis player in the world, will face a trial in Berlin Criminal Courts in May after accusations of domestic abuse against a woman, according to CNN and German news outlet Deutsche Welle.
Germany’s Tiergarten district court confirmed in October it imposed a penalty order of €450,000 on the German tennis player after accusations of “physically abusing and damaging the health of a woman during an argument in Berlin in May 2020.” Zverev denied the allegations and lodged an appeal of the penalty order.
According to a spokesperson, the trial is set to begin on May 31 and “could run across eight days until July 19.”
Zverev will not need to appear in court unless the Tiergarten district court demands it.
The German is currently participating in the Australian Open in Melbourne Park and is a member of the Association of Tennis Professionals’ (ATP) Player Advisory Council for the 2024 season.
When asked about whether his spot on the council was appropriate with the trial upcoming, Zverev said, “Why would it not be?”
He continued to say he felt that he had the confidence of his fellow players to hold onto that role.
“Nobody has said anything to me, so I don’t have a reason not to believe that,” Zverev said.
The reporter also asked about comments from others that say he shouldn’t be playing at all.
Zverev said, “Journalists are saying that, some, who are actually interested more in this story to write about and more about the clicks than the actual truth.”
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Alexander Zverev’s history of domestic abuse allegations
In November 2020, Racquet magazine published “Olya’s Story,” an article that featured domestic abuse allegations from Zverev’s ex-girlfriend, Olga Sharypova.
Zverev denied the allegations.
After the author of the story, Ben Rothenberg, published a similar article in Slate in August 2021, the tennis player obtained an injunction from German court against the author and the magazine from publishing the allegations without more substantial evidence.
From October 2021 to January 2023, the ATP conducted its own investigation into the claims and announced there was insufficient evidence against Zverev. It did not take disciplinary action against the German at the time.
In July, a penalty order was requested against Zverev for alleged bodily harm to ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea, who is also the mother of his child.
It is that penalty order that the German appealed and for which he will face trial in May.
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Alexander Zverev’s tennis career
Zverev, who hails from Hamburg, Germany, has won 21 titles in his 10-year career.
He has never won a Grand Slam singles tournament, though he has two ATP Finals wins in 2018 and 2021. The German also won the Men’s Singles gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
In June 2022, Zverev reached a career-high rank of No. 2 men’s singles player in the world. He is currently ranked No. 6 and is Germany’s top-ranked tennis player.
To begin 2024, Zverev led the German tennis team to a win at the second edition of the United Cup, the opener for both the ATP Tour and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour.
